“To my mind, a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful, and pretty, yes pretty! There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is without creating still more of them.” Pierre-Auguste Renoir “The work of art must seize upon you, wrap you up in itself, carry you away. It is the means by which […]

“All the good ideas I ever had came to me while I was milking a cow.” Grant Wood Grant Wood’s American Gothic is arguably the most recognized painting in 20th-century American art. It comes from the environment in which Grant Wood was raised: the rural American Midwest. The story behind the painting goes back […]

“I believe that the reason why I love painting so much is that it forces one to be objective. There is nothing I hate more than sentimentality.” Max Beckmann (February 12, 1884 – December 27, 1950) Max Beckmann lived in a time of conflict and fundamental change. His artwork is a brilliant reflection of this […]